As always, any help appreciated in identifying the best players of the season for 2000/1. Any suggestions or observations you might have are gratefully received. 2000-01 Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich and Germany) 32 games, 0 goals Santiago Canizares (Valencia and Spain) 37 games, 0 goals Fabian Barthez (Manchester United and France) 30 games, 0 goals Gianluigi Buffon (Parma and Italy) 34 games, 0 goals 6.47 Sebastian Frey (Inter and France) 28 games, 0 goals 6.30 Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio and Italy) 29 games, 0 goals 6.30 Mickael Landreau (Nantes and France) 33 games, 0 goals Paul Robinson (Leeds United and England) 16 games, 0 goals Ivan Pellizoli (Atalanta and Italy) 30 games, 0 goals Sander Westerweld (Liverpool and Netherlands) 38 games, 0 goals Ricardo (Boavista and Portugal) 28 games, 0 goals Jerzy Dudek (Feyenoord and Poland) 34 games, 0 goals Ruslan Nigmatulin (Lokomotiv and Moscow and Russia) 27 games, 0 goals Ronald Waterreus (PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands) 31 games, 0 goals Full-back Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid and Brazil) 36 games, 5 goals Cafu (Roma and Brazil) 31 games, 1 goal 6.56 Vincent Candela (Roma and France) 33 games, 3 goals 6.21 Jocelyn Angloma (Valencia and France) 27 games, 0 goals Manuel Pablo (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 37 games, 1 goal Steve Carr (Tottenham and Republic of Ireland) 28 games, 3 goals Sylvinho (Arsenal and Brazil) 24 games, 2 goals Marcus Babbel (Liverpool and Germany) 38 games, 3 goals Paolo Maldini (Milan and Italy) 31 games, 1 goal 6.32 Lillian Thuram (Parma and France) 30 games, 0 goals 6.27 Gianluca Pessotto (Juventus and Italy) 32 games, 0 goals 6.22 Jorg Bohme (Schalke and Germany) 30 games 10 goals Cosmin Contra (Alaves and Romania) 33 games, 3 goals Michel Salgado (Real Madrid and Spain) 27 games, 1 goal Romero (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 29 games, 0 goals Ian Harte (Leeds and England) 29 games, 7 goals Erivan (Boavista and Brazil) 27 games, 1 goal Juan Velasco (Celta Vigo and Spain) 33 games, 0 goals Centre-back Sami Hyypia (Liverpool and Finland) 35 games, 3 goals Alessandro Nesta (Lazio and Italy) 29 games, 0 goals 6.47 Walter Samuel (Roma and Argentina) 31 games, 1 goal 6.44 Roberto Fabian Ayala (Valencia and Argentina) 28 games, 1 goal Jaap Stam (Manchester United and Netherlands) 15 games, 0 goals (Worthy?) Antonio Zago (Roma and Brazil) 28 games, 0 goals 6.29 Fernando Hierro (Real Madrid and Spain) 29 games, 5 goals Donato (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 29 games, 3 goals Aldair (Roma and Brazil) 15 games, 0 goals 6.21 Wes Brown (Manchester United and England) 28 games, 0 goals Rio Ferdinand (West Ham/Leeds United and England) 12 games, 0 goals for West Ham, 23 games 2 goals for Leeds Sol Campbell (Tottenham and England) 21 games, 2 goals Miguel Angel Nadal (Mallorca and Spain) 36 games, 3 goals Igor Tudor (Juventus and Croatia) 25 games, 6 goals 6.35 Paolo Montero (Juventus and Uruguay) 23 games, 0 goals 6.43 Fabio Cannavaro (Parma and Italy) 32 games, 0 goals 6.26 Massimo Carrera (Atalanta and Italy) 32 games, 0 goals 6.33 Patrik Andersson (Bayern Munich and Sweden) 22 games, 1 goal Thomas Linke (Bayern Munich and Germany) 28 games, 0 goals Jens Nowotny (Bayer Leverkusen and Germany) 28 games, 1 goal Dean Richards (Southampton and England) 28 games, 1 goal Marco Materazzi (Perugia and Italy) 30 games, 12 goals Kevin Hofland (PSV and Netherlands) 29 games, 2 goals Litos (Boavista and Portugal) 33 games, 5 goals Yuri Nikiforov (PSV Eindhoven and Russia) 26 games, 1 goal Daniel van Buyten (Standard Liege and Belgium) 29 games, 4 goals Nestor Fabbri (Nantes and Argentina) 29 games, 4 goals Nicolas Gillet (Nantes and France) 27 games, 1 goal Pascal Cygan (Lille and France) 29 games, 2 goals Central Midfield Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid and Spain) 32 games, 5 goals Damiano Tommassi (Roma and Italy) 34 games, 3 goals 6.75 Roy Keane (Manchester United and Republic of Ireland) 28 games, 2 goals Patrick Vieira (Arsenal and France) 30 games, 5 goals Stefan Effenberg (Bayern Munich and Germany) 20 games, 4 goals Edgar Davids (Juventus and Netherlands) 26 games, 1 goal 6.29 Alex Tacchinardi (Juventus and Italy) 31 games, 2 goals 6.35 Cristiano Doni (Atalanta and Italy) 27 games, 7 goals 6.31 Ruben Baraja (Valencia and Spain) 35 games, 4 goals Claude Makelele (Real Madrid and France) 33 games, 0 goals Lee Bowyer (Leeds United and England) 38 games, 9 goals Olivier Dacourt (Leeds United and France) 33 games, 3 goals Steven Gerrard (Liverpool and England) 33 games, 7 goals Diego Simeone (Lazio and Argentina) 30 games, 2 goals 6.15 Dino Baggio (Lazio and Italy) 25 games, 1 goal 24 Don Hutchison (Sunderland and Scotland) 32 games, 8 goals Sergio (Espanyol and Spain) 38 games, 4 goals Fabio Liverani (Perugia and Italy) 30 games, 2 goals 6.45 Mauro Silva (Deportivo la Coruna and Brazil) 31 games, 0 goals Matt Holland (Ipswich and Republic of Ireland) 38 games, 3 goals Mark van Bommel (PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands) 32 games, 7 goals Johann Vogel (PSV Eindhoven and Switzerland) 30 games, 1 goal Mathieu Berson (Nantes and France) 28 games, 0 goals Sebastian Kehl (Freiburg and Germany) 25 games, 2 goals Attacking Midfielder Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia and Spain) 31 games, 10 goals Mehmet Scholl (Bayern Munich and Germany) 29 games, 9 goals Pavel Nedved (Lazio and Czech Republic) 31 games, 9 goals 6.71 Rui Costa (Fiorentina and Portugal) 29 games, 6 goals 6.71 Zinedine Zidane (Juventus and France) 33 games, 6 goals 6.52 Gary McAllister (Liverpool and Scotland) 30 games, 5 goals Eric Carriere (Nantes and France) 33 games, 5 goals Djalminha (Deportivo la Coruna and Brazil) 21 games, 9 goals Juan Veron (Lazio and Argentina) 22 games, 3 goals 6.27 Paul Scholes (Manchester United and England) 32 games, 6 goals Gus Poyet (Chelsea and Uruguay) 30 games, 11 goals Erwin Sanchez (Boavista and Bolivia) 33 games, 8 goals Stephane Ziani (Nantes and France) 31 games, 4 goals Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow and Russia) 24 games, 13 goals Dmitry Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow and Russia) 26 games, 15 goals Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax and Netherlands) 27 games, 7 goals Winger Luis Figo (Real Madrid and Portugal) 34 games, 9 goals Marc Overmars (Barcelona and Netherlands) 31 games, 7 goals David Beckham (Manchester United and England) 31 games, 9 goals Laurent Robert (PSG and France) 32 games, 14 goals Ryan Giggs (Manchester United and Wales) 31 games, 5 goals Steve McManaman (Real Madrid and England) 28 games, 2 goals Karel Poborsky (Benfica/Lazio and Czech Republic) 13 games, 1 goal for Benfica, 19 games, 1 goal for Lazio Angelo Di Livio (Fiorentina and Italy) 33 games, 1 goal 6.24 Petit (Boavista and Portugal) 26 games, 3 goals Vicente (Valencia and Spain) 33 games, 5 goals Oliver Quint (Sedan and France) 34 games, 8 goals Nuno Capucho (Porto and Portugal) 33 games, 6 goals Forward Raul (Real Madrid and Spain) 36 games, 24 goals Francesco Totti (Roma and Italy) 30 games, 13 goals 6.60 Rivaldo (Barcelona and Brazil) 25 games, 23 goals Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United and England) 29 games, 15 goals Roberto Baggio (Brescia and Italy) 25 games, 10 goals 6.81 Sergej Barbarez (Hamburg and Bosnia) 31 games, 22 goals Giuseppe Signori (Bologna and Italy) 23 games, 16 goals Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord and Denmark) 31 games, 15 goals Victor (Villarreal and Spain) 36 games, 14 goals Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea and Italy) 36 games, 9 goals Striker Hernan Crespo (Lazio and Argentina) 32 games, 26 goals 6.30 Andriy Shevchenko (Milan and Ukraine) 33 games, 24 goals 6.18 Enrico Chiesa (Fiorentina and Italy) 30 games, 22 goals 6.60 Gabriel Batistuta (Roma and Argentina) 28 games, 20 goals 6.34 Christian Vieri (Inter and Italy) 27 games, 18 goals 6.35 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea and Netherlands) 35 games, 23 goals Marcus Stewart (Ipswich Town and England) 34 games, 19 goals Thierry Henry (Arsenal and France) 35 games, 17 goals Michael Owen (Liverpool and England) 28 games, 16 goals Javi Moreno (Alaves and Spain) 34 games, 22 goals Diego Tristan (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 29 games, 19 goals Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona and Netherlands) 31 games, 18 goals Vincenzo Montella (Roma and Italy) 28 games, 12 goals 6.64 Marco Di Vaio (Parma and Italy) 27 games, 15 goals 6.45 Ebbe Sand (Schalke and Denmark) 33 games, 22 goals Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen and Peru) 31 games, 20 goals Giovane Elber (Bayern Munich and Brazil) 27 games, 15 Sonny Anderson (Lyon and Brazil) 29 games, 22 goals Pauleta (Bordeaux and France) 28 games, 20 goals Emile Heskey (Liverpool and England) 36 games, 14 goals Alan Smith (Leeds United and England) 33 games, 11 goals Dario Hubner (Brescia and Italy) 31 games, 17 goals Henrik Larsson (Celtic and Sweden) 37 games, 35 goals Guti (Real Madrid and Spain) 32 games, 14 goals Mark Viduka (Leeds United and Australia) 34 games, 17 goals Mateja Kezman (PSV Eindhoven and Serbia) 33 games, 24 goals Pena (Porto and Brazil) 29 games, 22 goals Tomas Radzinski (Anderlecht and Canada) 31 games, 23 goals Jan Koller (Anderlecht and Czech Republic) 32 games, 22 goals Stephane Chapuisat (Grasshopper and Switzerland) 24 games, 21 goals Roy Makaay (Deportivo la Coruna and Netherlands) 29 games, 16 goals @PuckVanHeel @PDG1978 @Tom Stevens @Perú FC
Nice work adding the Serie A average ratings, and at first glance it looks a good thorough list (when you include the likes of Marcus Stewart my chances to pull out some wildcard nominations like him reduce I think!). Maybe someone like Claus Jensen from the Premier League could be an option but I'd have to try to validate that idea and it'd be borderline I guess anyway. I'd give Robert Pires at least * (that seems reasonable although perhaps even ** at a push). I think the initial struggles to settle in England is only half the story for that season and the other half was very impressive. This could be relevant perhaps: https://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2001/06/11/platini-praises-golden-pires "At Arsenal I recovered a degree of confidence I had lost at Marseille so I just feel I am continuing the good work here that I did all season." Indicating his state of mind about his Arsenal season by the end of it.
The one that stands out positionally (possibly the only one - you've also done a good job there I think as indeed Helguera was in that role at that time wasn't he...) is I think I'm right in saying Cristiano Doni, who should be a winger I believe. Not that I saw him playing for Atalanta much if at all, but I think that's right and also fits with what Championship Manager classified him as possibly and certainly where he played in the 2002 World Cup (left midfield).
Maybe not a consensus opinion but possibly he was Arsenal's best player in 2000-01. A lot of the creativity and artistry came from him. Petit had left to Barcelona and DB10 struggled with recurring injuries (not my own opinion but the OPTA yearbook). Despite having the lowest points total between 1997 and 2005 (70 points), Arsenal still came 2nd. That OPTA yearbook places him in their team of the year. In relation to team mates he was just below Vieira, but above the rest. Pires, Vieira and Adams made for Arsenal the 'team of the year' (Adams just edged it 0.007 ahead of Desailly). The yearbook wrote: "his football was divine and at times silky". He scored 4 goals and had 7 assists (3 from set piece) but that only tells half the story. He completed more dribbles than anyone in the league (168), and his success rate (75%) was also the highest of his nearest challengers in the top five (team mate Henry was 10th in volume, with 60 dribbles less and 56% success rate). He stood also out in the passing volume for his team (only marginally less than Vieira) and in his passing accuracy (in opposite half and final third). His crossing stats are only average, his shooting was below average, but if you add it all together some weight was on him, to the detriment of his scoring and assisting. His key passes (I know, a statistic with flaws) was the highest of his team and on a per game rate the 2nd highest (behind DB10). They do wrote he was "initially struggling to cope with the hectic pace of English football", but thanks to his progression of play Henry received so many shot attempts and space on the break to work with. Henry his shooting accuracy and goals/shots was below average. Roy Keane was their pick as player of the year. They seem to suggest (contradicting themselves at places) Arsenal is a toss up between Vieira and Pires.
Interesting to see. His goals total does seem a bit low given how many he scored in future seasons (although in all competitions it improves a bit), but he probably scored several of his best ever including in the FA Cup and the one vs Lazio. He assisted Ljungberg's goal in the FA Cup Final too. The Pires/Henry connection did prove fruitful in the following season/s of course. Anyway I think * can be ok, but I do think he can easily receive that, and at certain moments his form was better than that would suggest (but it's offset by the lesser times and the lack of really substantial cumulative end product I suppose). He was certainly in really good form by the end of the season I feel and recall though, with his general play very good too as you indicate (and he was in essence a midfielder, albeit he actually went on to become a particularly high scoring one after this season and in a semi-forward role on the left arguably).
OK, for Italy here some to think of or check (not saying they should be included). Alvaro Recoba: decent grade (6.21) but below his career average. 10 narrow assists (4 from set piece) and 9 goals (1 penalty) in 29 games for 5th placed Inter. Very artistic and eye catching player, someone who stands out from the pack, but never really fulfilled his promise. As a starting player he won in the end 0 trophies of any sorts in Italy. League leader in assists was Zidane with 12. From open play Cafu and Zidane both with 10. Stefano Fiore: good grade (6.41) and 0.32 above his career average. Udinese finished 12th but by far the best rated of his team. In 34 games 10 assists (2 from set piece) and 9 goals albeit with 6 penalties. Sergio Conceicao: decent grade (6.16) that was above his career average. My memory isn't that specific but struck me in general as a useful player when I saw him. After Buffon, Cannavaro and Thuram (all defensive players) the best rated (starting) player of 4th placed Parma. Had 5 goals (no pens) and 7 assists from open play in 25 games.
Yeah, at the moment I'm thinking Pires and going a bit more left-field Jensen could be my main recommendations. Others I think could be worth considering might be Luis Enrique, and again going a bit more left-field with a creative (predominantly at that stage I think in this case) Danish CM/AM, Christian Poulsen (Danish Young Player of the Year and part of the Championship winning team).
Poulsen's claims might be doubtful just because of the league itself of course. Compatriot Dennis Rommedahl could perhaps join Pires and Luis Enrique as possible winger additions instead, and increase the PSV collection, but Puck might have some ideas about that.
Before FraserMc might mention it, I'll also throw the possibility of a second Celtic player into the mix: Lubo Moravcik.
My additions for Spain (if I have one) are still pending but yesterday and today I looked at the Marca site and checked the first 11 teams of the table, and these players had more than 6 assists according to them (not entirely sure whether it's fully exhaustive for teams below the top 6). Real Madrid: Roberto Carlos, Figo, Savio (Raul is at 2 assists for what is worth) Deportivo la Coruna: Djalminha, Fran, Valeron Mallorca: Eto'o, Ibagaza, Albert Luque Barcelona: Guardiola, Kluivert, Rivaldo, Overmars Valencia: Mendieta Celta de Vigo: Mostovoi, Gustavo Lopez Villarreal: Victor Malaga: Agostinho, Rufete Espanyol: Sergio Alaves: Jordi Cruijff Las Palmas: N/A No I wouldn't suggest/insist on thinking about including Jordi LOL, although people often do unfairly laughing and denigrating about his career I think. He had a number of horror injuries (including contact injuries inflicted by psychos) that make Robben a 'lucky bastard' by comparison. And of the sons of top 100 legends (i.e. the ~150-200 players who often appear in a top 100) he had actually very arguably the best career (with exception of the Schmeichels), and it doesn't look like (so far) that Enzo Zidane is about to change this. Technically he was also okay I think and "in intention" a proper footballer. If I have some possible suggestions or inclusions I will get back, but above I share the investigation I've done.
Just to complete this and add a bit for Champions League; According to that soccer-europe website Pires was the 2nd most productive Arsenal player in the Champions League (the competition not covered by the yearbook, to be clear). Arsenal went through the 2nd group stage and then crashed out in the quarter finals. Typically, they won only two of their seven away games (both with 0-1, vs Spartak Moscow and vs Lyon). Henry had 4 goals and 2 assists in 14; Pires 1 and 2 in 12; Bergkamp 1 and 2 in 5. With pre-assists included Pires was the 2nd most productive for Arsenal in the UCL. Without Pires Arsenal lost one and won one (the 2-0 vs double winners Lazio with 2 goals by Ljungberg, with him and DB10 in the starring role that match). Surprising that defender Harte has the 2nd most overall in the UCL (6 assists). That aligns with his career Premier League record (not to this extreme extent, but him standing out above other EPL-era defenders in this regard). I became curious about what he actually did in the last four rounds of the UEFA Cup, starting with Inter (didn't check the earlier rounds Gaziantespor and Rosenborg ties). Against Inter (for example), Rayo Vallecano, Kaiserslautern and Liverpool he had surprisingly 4 goals from open play and 3 assists (with one from a set piece) in the last 6 games (missed one game, started the other 6). Very surprising to discover this - all were meaningful actions too and not the the 3-0 or 4-0 or so. Recoba with crafty preparation and a goal in the 3-3 game of the 1st leg.
Emile Mpenza maybe. Best graded forward on the kicker website (Schalke finished 2nd and won the domestic cup, didn't play in Europe) and one of the four most productive players of the league. On a per game base (played 27, started 25) the 2nd most productive behind team mate and striker Ebbe Sand (also excluding penalties, both had 0 pens). edit: delivered five assists (3 and 2) in the two games against main rivals (and eventual champion) Bayern Munich.
Some preliminary ideas in general terms: For goalkeepers I am not sure whether there were many outstanding ones, other than Kahn in the Champions League (less so in the bigger league matches). Maybe Buffon was already the best. Frey was solid/good I remember (thought/think he was better than Barthez for a while). I still doubt very much wether Sar was as bad for Juventus as is remembered. Although playing for only two years inflates the number, his clean sheets record was very good. Juventus their defensive line leaned on Montero and Tudor this year. The most packed positions (I think) were the strikers (albeit with many of not too many frills and thrills) and the central midfielders. Many played at a high level and were the bedrock for their side, but with Keane a level above the rest this year. Effenberg reached when in the mood a similar peak in a couple of games, but played 20 of 34 league games. Totti his domestic grade might be inflated a bit. Without penalties he had 9 goals and 3 assists in 30 games. I've doubts whether he prepared/pre-assisted many goals instead (for this season and these tactics). All in all I'm tempted to say Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Roy Keane, Zidane, Nedved, Figo and Shevchenko were the best footballers overall. Rui Costa was domestically as good as good as Zidane and Nedved, but had a dismal first round exit with Fiorentina in Europe and for the national team he missed many games (incl. qualifiers) and didn't stand out particularly. He goes in the end to the group with Rivaldo, Sheringham, Totti, Nesta, Kahn, Effenberg, the pack with central midfielders (Guardiola? had 10 assists but unlike many other seasons not in the Don Balon ideal team), Batistuta, Raul and other folks. I also liked Gary McAllistar around this time.
Good suggestions. I'd struggle to see Raul outside the first group (and very high up). He was top scorer in La Liga, top scorer in the Champions League and he scored goals against big opponents (3 against Leeds, 2 against Galatasaray in the QFS, 1 against Lazio). I think it's probably between him and Figo for top spot. Effenberg I remember as being very good in the Champions League and he got the better of Keane in their meetings I thought. But he didn't play that much in the league and his rating wasn't great. McAllister was a similar case in that he came on very strong in the latter stages of the season. MOTM in the UEFA Cup final, scored a great winner against Everton in the derby and generally very influential. Had he played throughout how he was from March onwards then he'd have been player of the year.
I do place some weight on personal memories but recognise their limitations. At this point I was watching a lot of Champions League, Serie A and the Premier League, some of La Liga and the UEFA Cup and not a lot of other club competitions.
Hmmm yes, I had initially (monday) typed him in there but then thought about the comparison with Shevchenko and dropped him down. I think Shevchenko his grade of 6.18 is on the low side. It doesn't reflect he was an individually capable player, could link up well, combined very well. A hybrid between a striker and a forward, and he scored 33 goals in league and Europe (although with 8 pens, some of them drawn by himself). By this point the Serie A was however only slightly less lower scoring than 'La Liga' (difference of 0.12). I had a bit of the impression that Raul was like Cristiano's more recent seasons, albeit with the difference that Raul his finishes had more refinement (at times), more refinement in his headers too, and had 0 penalties in the league and Champions League. He did have more assists in the UCL (five assists) than his two in the league. He had excellent service from Figo and Roberto Carlos in particular, with the latter producing his best through balls of his career (surprising feature to see for some). This is true for almost all strikers, but many of Raul his goals came from close range, with some tap ins (with opposition goalkeeper out of position) too. Although it is not the ultimate word, Raul had an OPTA Index value of 863 across the season (this link only shows 10 'random' players, but for Raul that number is correct - only for league + UCL combined however). For a player who scored so many goals, 31 in both competitions, without penalties, that is quite low. Then I looked at the Marca website with their own iffy statistic of pass involvement. He was literally a factor 10 less involved than Figo. But OK, that is Figo, who will not score that well in his other seasons... He was also 5.6 times less involved than forwards Victor, Ibagaza and Mostovoi (in one of his Celta seasons he deserves to be included too btw, but hazy with the specifics), 4.3 times as less as Roberto Carlos and also 3.2 times less than Rivaldo for example. Regardless of whether this is totally accurate, the OPTA value started to make some sense (and became more transparent to see what was happening). Shevchenko was by this point maybe starting to leave his very fastest, most explosive and most agile phase, but his 6 league assists is indicative for being a bit more involved. Milan finished 6th, scored merely 56 goals, and the creativity (other than Shevchenko) was mainly coming from Serginho (check the appearances, check the DBScalcio ratings below 6.00, check the ages of the players). The rest was close to being a disaster. For national team my quick thought was that both were comparable and don't make a decisive gap vis-a-vis each other (doesn't add something really big to their resume). Weighing this is not easy but hopefully the ideas are clear a bit.
Yes that seems to be right. Until he and other Inter star players were forced to take a pay cut in the summer of 2002. Noticed that he (and also Seedorf who dressed #10) created some goals for Vieiri, but Inter was at many levels a mess. It is not the main reason why Recoba's career didn't come to fruition, but there was also a lack of defensive orientated midfielders who were in their prime (preferably the ones who could do a bit more than just breaking play). This was a major benefit for Totti, Zidane andsoforth. I watched yesterday after the Napoli game the first leg that is on footballia (completed the remainder in the morning) and it does maybe raise more questions than answering them or refreshing the memory. Before I come to that here Roy Keane (b. 1971) his Index rating between 1998 and 2003 1998-99: 1035 (2 goals, 0 assists) 1999-00: 1252 (5 goals, 1 assist) 2000-01: 1377 (2 goals, 7 assists) 2001-02: 1211 (3 goals, 5 assists) 2002-03: 1296 (0 goals, 1 assist) [note: extra midfielder/forward] After this he entered his footballing decline I think, although his physical box-to-box peak ended earlier. Need to arrange some thoughts but can already tell that Keane was clearly a lot more 'defensive' than Effenberg. There was a marginal edge for Effenberg, but I think Keane got the raw part of the deal in the game (Scholes did very little, lost the ball very often while doing less with it, this was very noticeable).
How does this look as a tentative rating: Goalkeeper Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich and Germany) 32 games, 0 goals *** Gianluigi Buffon (Parma and Italy) 34 games, 0 goals 6.47 *** Santiago Canizares (Valencia and Spain) 37 games, 0 goals ** Fabian Barthez (Manchester United and France) 30 games, 0 goals ** Sebastian Frey (Inter and France) 28 games, 0 goals 6.30 * Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio and Italy) 29 games, 0 goals 6.30 * Mickael Landreau (Nantes and France) 33 games, 0 goals * Ivan Pellizoli (Atalanta and Italy) 30 games, 0 goals * Ricardo (Boavista and Portugal) 28 games, 0 goals * Ruslan Nigmatulin (Lokomotiv and Moscow and Russia) 27 games, 0 goals * Ronald Waterreus (PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands) 31 games, 0 goals * Jerzy Dudek (Feyenoord and Poland) 34 games, 0 goals HM Sander Westerweld (Liverpool and Netherlands) 38 games, 0 goals HM Paul Robinson (Leeds United and England) 16 games, 0 goals HM Full-back Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid and Brazil) 36 games, 5 goals *** Cafu (Roma and Brazil) 31 games, 1 goal 6.56 *** Vincent Candela (Roma and France) 33 games, 3 goals 6.21 ** Jocelyn Angloma (Valencia and France) 27 games, 0 goals * Paolo Maldini (Milan and Italy) 31 games, 1 goal 6.32 * Lillian Thuram (Parma and France) 30 games, 0 goals 6.27 * Jorg Bohme (Schalke and Germany) 30 games 10 goals * Ian Harte (Leeds and England) 29 games, 7 goals * Cosmin Contra (Alaves and Romania) 33 games, 3 goals * Manuel Pablo (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 37 games, 1 goal * Steve Carr (Tottenham and Republic of Ireland) 28 games, 3 goals * Sylvinho (Arsenal and Brazil) 24 games, 2 goals * Marcus Babbel (Liverpool and Germany) 38 games, 3 goals * Gianluca Pessotto (Juventus and Italy) 32 games, 0 goals 6.22 * Michel Salgado (Real Madrid and Spain) 27 games, 1 goal * Romero (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 29 games, 0 goals HM Erivan (Boavista and Brazil) 27 games, 1 goal HM Juan Velasco (Celta Vigo and Spain) 33 games, 0 goals HM Valerio Bertotto (Udinese and Italy) HM Centre-back Alessandro Nesta (Lazio and Italy) 29 games, 0 goals 6.47 *** Walter Samuel (Roma and Argentina) 31 games, 1 goal 6.44 *** Roberto Fabian Ayala (Valencia and Argentina) 28 games, 1 goal ** Sami Hyypia (Liverpool and Finland) 35 games, 3 goals ** ESM Team of the Year Fernando Hierro (Real Madrid and Spain) 29 games, 5 goals ** Donato (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 29 games, 3 goals ** Antonio Zago (Roma and Brazil) 28 games, 0 goals 6.29 * Wes Brown (Manchester United and England) 28 games, 0 goals * Rio Ferdinand (West Ham/Leeds United and England) 12 games, 0 goals for West Ham, 23 games 2 goals for Leeds * Sol Campbell (Tottenham and England) 21 games, 2 goals * Miguel Angel Nadal (Mallorca and Spain) 36 games, 3 goals * Igor Tudor (Juventus and Croatia) 25 games, 6 goals 6.35 * Paolo Montero (Juventus and Uruguay) 23 games, 0 goals 6.43 * Fabio Cannavaro (Parma and Italy) 32 games, 0 goals 6.26 * Massimo Carrera (Atalanta and Italy) 32 games, 0 goals 6.33 * Patrik Andersson (Bayern Munich and Sweden) 22 games, 1 goal * Thomas Linke (Bayern Munich and Germany) 28 games, 0 goals * Jens Nowotny (Bayer Leverkusen and Germany) 28 games, 1 goal * Dean Richards (Southampton and England) 28 games, 1 goal HM Marco Materazzi (Perugia and Italy) 30 games, 12 goals HM Kevin Hofland (PSV and Netherlands) 29 games, 2 goals HM Litos (Boavista and Portugal) 33 games, 5 goals HM Yuri Nikiforov (PSV Eindhoven and Russia) 26 games, 1 goal HM Daniel van Buyten (Standard Liege and Belgium) 29 games, 4 goals HM Nestor Fabbri (Nantes and Argentina) 29 games, 4 goals HM Nicolas Gillet (Nantes and France) 27 games, 1 goal HM Jaap Stam (Manchester United and Netherlands) 15 games, 0 goals HM Pascal Cygan (Lille and France) 29 games, 2 goals HM Aldair (Roma and Brazil) 15 games, 0 goals 6.21 HM Defensive Midfield Damiano Tommassi (Roma and Italy) 34 games, 3 goals 6.75 *** Ivan Helguera (Real Madrid and Spain) 32 games, 5 goals ** Alex Tacchinardi (Juventus and Italy) 31 games, 2 goals 6.35 * Claude Makelele (Real Madrid and France) 33 games, 0 goals * Olivier Dacourt (Leeds United and France) 33 games, 3 goals * Mauro Silva (Deportivo la Coruna and Brazil) 31 games, 0 goals * Mathieu Berson (Nantes and France) 28 games, 0 goals HM Sebastian Kehl (Freiburg and Germany) 25 games, 2 goals HM Central Midfield Roy Keane (Manchester United and Republic of Ireland) 28 games, 2 goals *** Stefan Effenberg (Bayern Munich and Germany) 20 games, 4 goals *** Lee Bowyer (Leeds United and England) 38 games, 9 goals ** Edgar Davids (Juventus and Netherlands) 26 games, 1 goal 6.29 * Patrick Vieira (Arsenal and France) 30 games, 5 goals * Ruben Baraja (Valencia and Spain) 35 games, 4 goals * Steven Gerrard (Liverpool and England) 33 games, 7 goals * Sergio (Espanyol and Spain) 38 games, 4 goals * Fabio Liverani (Perugia and Italy) 30 games, 2 goals 6.45 * Diego Simeone (Lazio and Argentina) 30 games, 2 goals 6.15 HM Dino Baggio (Lazio and Italy) 25 games, 1 goal HM Don Hutchison (Sunderland and Scotland) 32 games, 8 goals HM Matt Holland (Ipswich and Republic of Ireland) 38 games, 3 goals HM Mark van Bommel (PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands) 32 games, 7 goals HM Johann Vogel (PSV Eindhoven and Switzerland) 30 games, 1 goal HM Attacking Midfielder Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia and Spain) 31 games, 10 goals *** Pavel Nedved (Lazio and Czech Republic) 31 games, 9 goals 6.71 *** Zinedine Zidane (Juventus and France) 33 games, 6 goals 6.52 *** Rui Costa (Fiorentina and Portugal) 29 games, 6 goals 6.71 *** Mehmet Scholl (Bayern Munich and Germany) 29 games, 9 goals ** Gary McAllister (Liverpool and Scotland) 30 games, 5 goals ** Eric Carriere (Nantes and France) 33 games, 5 goals ** French Player of the Year Djalminha (Deportivo la Coruna and Brazil) 21 games, 9 goals ** Paul Scholes (Manchester United and England) 32 games, 6 goals * Gus Poyet (Chelsea and Uruguay) 30 games, 11 goals * Ariel Ibagaza (Mallorca and Argentina) 34 games, 10 goals * Erwin Sanchez (Boavista and Bolivia) 33 games, 8 goals * Stephane Ziani (Nantes and France) 31 games, 4 goals * Juan Veron (Lazio and Argentina) 22 games, 3 goals 6.27 * Yegor Titov (Spartak Moscow and Russia) 24 games, 13 goals * Dmitry Loskov (Lokomotiv Moscow and Russia) 26 games, 15 goals * Rafael van der Vaart (Ajax and Netherlands) 27 games, 7 goals * Andreas Moller (Schalke and Germany) 32 games, 1 goal * Winger Luis Figo (Real Madrid and Portugal) 34 games, 9 goals *** David Beckham (Manchester United and England) 31 games, 9 goals ** Ryan Giggs (Manchester United and Wales) 31 games, 5 goals ** Laurent Robert (PSG and France) 32 games, 14 goals * Cristiano Doni (Atalanta and Italy) 27 games, 7 goals 6.31 * Marc Overmars (Barcelona and Netherlands) 31 games, 7 goals * Steve McManaman (Real Madrid and England) 28 games, 2 goals * Karel Poborsky (Benfica/Lazio and Czech Republic) 13 games, 1 goal for Benfica, 19 games, 1 goal for Lazio * Robert Pires (Arsenal and France) 33 games, 4 goals * Angelo Di Livio (Fiorentina and Italy) 33 games, 1 goal 6.24 * Luis Enrique (Barcelona and Spain) 28 games, 1 goal * Fran (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 27 games, 2 goals * Vicente (Valencia and Spain) 33 games, 5 goals * Oliver Quint (Sedan and France) 34 games, 8 goals HM Petit (Boavista and Portugal) 26 games, 3 goals HM Nuno Capucho (Porto and Portugal) 33 games, 6 goals HM Forward Raul (Real Madrid and Spain) 36 games, 24 goals *** Francesco Totti (Roma and Italy) 30 games, 13 goals 6.60 *** Rivaldo (Barcelona and Brazil) 25 games, 23 goals *** Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United and England) 29 games, 15 goals *** Roberto Baggio (Brescia and Italy) 25 games, 10 goals 6.81 *** Sergej Barbarez (Hamburg and Bosnia) 31 games, 22 goals ** Giuseppe Signori (Bologna and Italy) 23 games, 16 goals * Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord and Denmark) 31 games, 15 goals * Victor (Villarreal and Spain) 36 games, 14 goals * Gianfranco Zola (Chelsea and Italy) 36 games, 9 goals * Alvaro Recoba (Inter and Uruguay) 29 games, 9 goals * Striker Hernan Crespo (Lazio and Argentina) 32 games, 26 goals 6.30 *** Andriy Shevchenko (Milan and Ukraine) 33 games, 24 goals 6.18 *** Enrico Chiesa (Fiorentina and Italy) 30 games, 22 goals 6.60 ** Gabriel Batistuta (Roma and Argentina) 28 games, 20 goals 6.34 ** Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Chelsea and Netherlands) 35 games, 23 goals ** Michael Owen (Liverpool and England) 28 games, 16 goals ** Javi Moreno (Alaves and Spain) 34 games, 22 goals ** Christian Vieri (Inter and Italy) 27 games, 18 goals 6.35 ** Diego Tristan (Deportivo la Coruna and Spain) 29 games, 19 goals * Patrick Kluivert (Barcelona and Netherlands) 31 games, 18 goals * Vincenzo Montella (Roma and Italy) 28 games, 12 goals 6.64 * Marcus Stewart (Ipswich Town and England) 34 games, 19 goals * Thierry Henry (Arsenal and France) 35 games, 17 goals * Ebbe Sand (Schalke and Denmark) 33 games, 22 goals * Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen and Peru) 31 games, 20 goals * Giovane Elber (Bayern Munich and Brazil) 27 games, 15 goals * Sonny Anderson (Lyon and Brazil) 29 games, 22 goals * Pauleta (Bordeaux and France) 28 games, 20 goals * Emile Heskey (Liverpool and England) 36 games, 14 goals * Dario Hubner (Brescia and Italy) 31 games, 17 goals * Henrik Larsson (Celtic and Sweden) 37 games, 35 goals * Guti (Real Madrid and Spain) 32 games, 14 goals * Mark Viduka (Leeds United and Australia) 34 games, 17 goals * Mateja Kezman (PSV Eindhoven and Serbia) 33 games, 24 goals * Pena (Porto and Brazil) 29 games, 22 goals * Marco Di Vaio (Parma and Italy) 27 games, 15 goals 6.45 HM Alan Smith (Leeds United and England) 33 games, 11 goals HM Tomas Radzinski (Anderlecht and Canada) 31 games, 23 goals HM Jan Koller (Anderlecht and Czech Republic) 32 games, 22 goals HM Stephane Chapuisat (Grasshopper and Switzerland) 24 games, 21 goals HM Roy Makaay (Deportivo la Coruna and Netherlands) 29 games, 16 goals HM Emile Mpenza (Schalke and Belgium) 27 games, 12 goals HM
For the most outstanding players this looks about right I think. Probably I'd change Crespo and Batistuta around. Most probably Baggio down to two stars tentatively, although he did produce more than Totti - I checked in the weekend some old performances and Totti does distribute the ball well but one exceptional game aside the danger creation looks in other seasons higher. Do you have something on Totti? He did score well in the international awards (ESM, FIFA, Ballon d'Or - in contrast to Baggio who was an absentee in almost all, except for one point by one of the 51 voters for BdO). Problem remains that after 1994 Baggio was most of the times sub par when sharing the pitch with other talented team mates. Baggio had 7 goals + 3 pens and 10 assists in 25 league games (didn't play internationally and no production in 3 domestic cup games). Rationally it doesn't match but tentatively three for Totti and two for Baggio. I agree about Beckham being the 2nd best midfielder of United. His work rate and covering of ground was extreme. In his last Man United season it tailed off noticeably (and demonstrably). Rivaldo is not my favorite type of player and he was not good in the later stages in Europe (outperformed by team mates as Luis Enrique and Overmars surely) but so many goals and 8 assists in the league are difficult to ignore. Effenberg was discussed previously and there was a very slight edge against Roy Keane (although Keane had only Beckham as help). Roy Keane hasn't gone down in history as a great technician, but his ground passes were sharp and useful. In the main I agree with the top of each lists.
Vieira definitely deserves more than 1* in my eyes. 2000/01 was debatably his best individual season for arsenal, being voted Premier League Player of the season, and earning a place in the 2000/01 PFA team of the year, and 2001 UEFA Team of the year. The arsenal team was still forming into the formidable side in the few seasons following, with Henry still improving, Pires adapting, Bergkamp at the end of his first peak, and no Sol campbell there were some clear improvements made going into 2001/02, but looking back arsenal were 1 away goal away from a CL semi vs Leeds, and a handball off the line from an FA victory so had nothing to show for the season. In the league vieira bounced back from 2 red in the first few games to be arsenals most important midfielder, with the only real blips being the 4-0 loss at anfield and the 6-1 to man utd, in which the cb partnership of grimandi and stepanovs fell to pieces. He scored goals in 30 league games, with the last minute equaliser vs spurs being the pick of the bunch. Vieira also had some of his best champions league performances against Lyon H and A, Lazio H, Shakhtar H, and was very strong in both QF games vs Valencia. Also Man of the match in the FA Cup Semi vs Tottenham, and Arsenal's best player vs Liverpool in the final (which arsenal dominated and deserved to win on the balance of play). Quotes from a 21 year old Gerrard on the 01 FA Cup final: 'I learned a lot from the FA Cup Final. I learned that Patrick Vieira is a lot better than me.'He's a great player. You don't realise how fit he is. He has everything as a player and he just dictates the pace of the play. I try to watch as many Arsenal games as I can because he is exciting to watch. He's a role model for me. He made me realise that I can become a lot fitter and be more composed on the ball. When you're 21 and have played a limited number of matches, then you can improve on every aspect of your game. Patrick, at 24, is that bit older and stronger. He started off defending and then making some dangerous runs forward. I hope there will be some good battles between us in the future. I did have the consolation of a winner's medal.' Gerrard admitted that he had been determined to go out at the Millennium Stadium and grab the final by the throat. 'Unfortunately, Vieira doesn't let you do that,' he said. 'I finished up trying to stop him running the match and he got the better of me that day.